Reunion
by catimac
Summary: Luke is back, and Thalia isn't sure how to feel about it.


"What are you doing?" That was a good question. But Thalia didn't know the answer.

"I don't know." She focused on a spot in the white wall in front of her.

Annabeth sat on the floor next to her friend. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say.

"What should I even do? Tell him everything's like it used to be? Because it isn't. And you know that."

Annabeth did know that. Everybody knew that. Even him.

"He asked for you." She finnaly said. "It was the first thing he did."

Thalia stayed quiet for a while. Her expression was kept the same. "That doesn't change anyhting. Why would it?"

"'Don't you get it? He still cares about you, Thalia. He always did."

"Oh, really? Then why did he do it?"

"Thalia-"

"Why did he turn his back on us, on all of us and joined Kronos? Why did he, Annabeth? Can you tell me that?"

Thalia was nearly screaming now. As she looked at her friend's face, Annabeth noticed her eyes were glassy from tears.

Annabeth layed a hand on Thalia's shoulder. After a few moments of silence, she dared saying the answer on the tip of her tongue out loud.

"I don't know. But there is someone who knows."

"Who?" Thalia already knew the answer.

"Luke."

xxXxx

Thalia sat on the matress and twisted the tip of the white sheet between her fingers. Saying she was nervous was an understatement.

How Annabeth had managed to convince her to do this, she didn't remember. Her heart was beating so fast agaisnt her chest she doubted she could concentrate enough to remember anything.

She sighed. Her heart was beating like a drum, her muscles felt sore, she had a weird taste in her mouth, and a terrible headache. She had dreaded this day for ages and kept playing the images of the day she joined the Hunters over and over again in her head. The memory of having her heart broken and throwing Luke off that cliff still pained her.

She went over a planned speech in her mind. Last night she had stayed up with her nerves on edge and imagined what she would say. She prepared every single possible scenario and how she would react to it. Yet she was still biting her lip, her hands were sweaty and her eyes were locked on the door knob.

Then, after what seemed like hours, there was a knock on the door. The sound made her jump.

She looked at the floor and her hands started shaking so much she had to press them agaisnt her legs. "It's open." Her voice was shaking and was just blow a whisper. "It's open.", she repeated, making an effort not to stutter.

She heard someone open the door, walk inside the cabin and close the door again. Her nails were digging into her legs.

She forced herself not to look at him. She wanted to, but she was afraid of what she would find. She wouldn't look. She couldn't look.

But then he spoke- he spoke in a soft voice that made her skin tingle. "Thalia."

The way he said her name made her bite the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood. And with that, she looked at him.

He hadn't changed. Tall, tan and muscular. The same sand blonde hair and light blue eyes. He wore an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and blue faded jeans. The scar on his face was twisted with his expression.

She got up. She wasn't sure why, but she did. They were standing, facing each other, and Thalia managed the courage to look him in the eye.

They stood there, at arm distance, when Luke stepped foward and wrapped his arms around her. Her first instinct was to push him away, but her arms seemed to have a will of their own. She pulled him closer and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I hate you." She whispered. "So damn much."

"I know."

"No, you don't." She was choking back tears. "Do you have any idea of what it was like, getting out of that pinecone and finding out you..."

"I'm sorry. You know, I didn't do it to hurt you."

"Then why?" She felt a tear rolling down her cheek and she wiped it away with her thumb. "Why? You were safe, you were happy, you had Annabeth. Why did you throw that away?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Obviously not!"

"Because of you, Thalia."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

He sighed. "Do you know how hard it was,"His voice was almost a whisper. "waking up everyday and living life and you weren't there. And believing that there was no way to get you back. I thought I would never see you again, And the Gods, who we should worship and be thankful to-there was no one else to blame. So I blamed them."

Thalia stayed in silence for a while. The tears kept rolling down her face, landing on Luke's shoulder.

"How do you think I felt," She said at last. "when everyone told me what you had done? I trusted you more than anyone, Luke. I remembered, you know."

"Remembered what?" He asked softly, brushing a lock of black hair behing her ear. She shivered.

"Everyday" Thalia had the ghost of a smile on her lips. "You used to go to my tree and talk to me. Even if it was just to tell me what was new around camp. And I loved that." She paused. "And then the whole camp told me you had betrayed us."

Thalia wanted to stop crying. Nothing was going as she planned, but crying was the one thing that could not happen.

Yet there she was, nearly sobbing, with one of Luke's arms around her waist, him wiping the tear off her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Thalia." He whispered.

"You should be."

"Thalia."

"Hm?"

"Please stop crying." She almost laughed.

"I really want to, but I'm not managing." She slid her hand down his arm and took his hand, lacing their fingers together.

XxXxx

"What did he call it?"

"The best underwater kiss of all time." They laughed.

He looked out the window. "What time is it?"

"9:32pm."

"Wow. I should be going." Luke got up. "Thalia, I-"

"No."

"What do you mean, no?"

"I don't want you to."

"You don't want me to talk?"

"I don't want you to go." Thalia grabbed Luke's hand and pulled him back down, making him sit down beside her on the matress.

"Thalia, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, or better, _asking..."_ She sighed. "I just... can you...?"

"Sleep with you tonight?" She nodded.

He smiled and intertwined their fingers. "Of course, Thalia." He promised while rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

XxXxx

They slep with their clothes on. The lights were out. From outside came the calming sound of the ocean. But what they could hear clearly were each others breaths.

Thalia and Luke laid side by side on Thalia's bed, facing each other. Luke ran his finger along the edges of Thalia's face, ocasionally brushing a hair out of the way. Thalia studied Luke's features, enjoying his soft touch.

Thalia didn't remember the last time she felt so good, so peaceful, so at-ease. There was no place she'd rather be.

The realization hit her like a pile of bricks. But there was no panic, not even an eletric feeling. She just felt a warm and pleasant feeling in her stomach, that extended through her whole body.

"Luke."

"Hm?"

"I'm in love with you."

Luke looked her in the eyes, but other than that there was no sign that he had even heard her.

But then, he slowly leaned in towards her.

Their lips met.

Wow this is one of the first fics I actually finnished say whaaaat (it's also a oneshot but shhh).

I actually wrote this a while ago and dug it up today, made a few changes and this happened. So yeah.

Also this post is on tumblr if you want to check it out there: post/50922164398/and-so-cati-actually-finnished-a- fic-and-decided

Have a good one, kids!


End file.
